Awesome first review! You've come a very long way in 5 years! With MD2 on the way, my excitement is extreme. I'm currently 3D printing all of the minis from MD1, so that I can use the crossover pack enemies
This is my favorite Dungeon Crawl. One of the things I love about it is that it gives me a Decentish Crawl in an afternoon. Another thing I love is how the game doesn't beat you over the head with Encounters/Perils.
Those are very good points! For me, I always call it a "dungeon romp" versus a crawl. It always reminded me of the Diablo games or other ARPGs which I enjoy. The fact that I can cleave through 8 goblins and then headbutt a boss to death is pretty great :D
The King of Average That's the best part ;D My last playthrough was Quest 8 and I needed to kill 1 more Roamer which had 7 health left. Drew an Event that let a Hero take an action. I chose Lil'Ned (Bone Crusher) He charged in and inflicted around 25 damage! Lol
This is a fantastic review - the best I've seen in fact! After playing D&D and other pen & paper rpgs for decades, I find the story mode super light as well. It's a good game to have friends over for drinks and a mindless dungeon crawl though. Like you though, I bought it for the miniatures :) Maybe i'll end up using them in a future D&D campaign!
Wow thank you so much! I have a friend that bought the game precisely for D&D use. It's a great purchase for that alone. The fact that you get a fun, lighthearted dungeon crawler is a bonus in that regard :) I'm not one to put style of substance though, and the game holds up incredibly well for my gaming nights. Set up is long but I ALWAYS walk away a couple hours later very happy we played.
I want to see the miniatures up close I wanted to know if they are compatible with reaper bones or whiz kids miniatures wanted to find out which sets you had to get to get which figures and yes I'm looking for the corn and looking one. Any help would be appreciated
Nice review! I agree on the story mode, it was added on the later stages of the KS campaign, that's why it has some flaws, but hey, it was originally planned for single questing only. Usually we pick 3-4 quest and call it story mode because you are still leveling fast with micro XP and better equipment means a lot (which you can carry over) and after 2-3 quest you feel sometimes overpowered. The light tone of combat (still, that max 3 dice/colour makes counting a lot easier), the wide variety of minis (true, the base game content feels not enough) and the loot system makes this overall a well balanced, almost fast-paced dungeon crawling game with a not complex decision making system and a ton of replayability. Overall within our party the game shines especially for the newcomers who are not so much in deep with board gaming (they enjoyed it a lot) and a refreshing experience for the more experienced players as well.
Thank you and completely agree on all accounts. You bring up a good point as well with the complexity vs. audience. While I wouldn't put this as a gateway game, I think it'd make a fantastic 2nd game for someone being introduced to board games such as this and even a first step for those with the right inclination. Glad you enjoyed the video and are enjoying the game! I still need to get a few more add-ons to make an already good game even greater with more variety.
Hard to say really. I like the video editing and pure shots of the game/items as you talk about them--as used in your more recent videos. But what I really like about this one is the positive/negative 'sandwiching' you do. In that you spend a lot of time talking about what wasn't great about the game, but then point out that you still love it. I find this to be the most helpful if estimating what my own opinion might be. As you say for example you don't like 'this or that' I can immediately think 'oh yea, I hate when games do that,' or 'actually I like that, or those thing don't bother me.' The best example of this in any of your video I've seen thus far (IMHO) would be in this video when you mention the combat system. I thought it was very insightful how you mentioned that a game's system can be complicated or simple--usually based on the overall depth of the play. However you found this game's system to be overly complicated in comparison to its dept. Obviously, this is what I (1 person) gleaned from that particular statement, and not your exact words. Hope this feedback helps.
Thank you for the wonderful feedback! I'll continue to try and fine tune the review format to something I'm happy with that I think others will appreciate. Perhaps a bit more detail vs the summary statements without example of the first video, but still more brief (under 10 minutes ideally) with the raw gameplay shown. I really like showing the gameplay in the back as I talk so that you can see typical (real) game flow. You gleamed my biggest point for MD btw! I talked about it in my GH review a bit but every game has a purpose and with the shallow depth MD is almost a filler game, yet it takes several hours to complete. If it wasn't as fun as it is it'd overstep it's welcome and even then it's close when you take into account setup and tear down time.
I've been watching quite a lot of reviews of this game and have played Zombicide Black Plague (which was an absolute blast!). I've decided to buy this one because I feel that what most people can't wrap thier head around is that this game seems to be begging to be HOUSE RULED. Which for me is awesome because then we get to make the game our own. Our adventures! Our campaigns! This seems like a great game to get short of playing actual D&D. Our group has even made a personal campaign for Black Plague and it was GREAT! I think if people just add a little creativity of their own and bend or break some rules they might just find that this game can be truly amazing!
In that case this is almost the ultimate game for you! I know several people that bought this just for D&D material because it works so well with that.
Hi. Dou you think I can use MD's rules to play with the D&D Adventure Games? Because it sounds to me like they tried to fix what did not work with that system.
They bought it specifically for the pen and paper version but since then have actually written a whole campaign with the pieces as if they were playing the game. As for moving the game mechanics, they really just drive a light dungeon crawler, so I imagine you could sub it in for most any other dungeon crawler fairly well. I have not played the D&D Adventure Games but I have played others like Descent.
Another great review man. I agree, it is a fun game but it is relatively light which isn't necessarily a bad thing. My kids enjoy it. It's a good introduction to people who aren't familiar with dungeons crawls but even if they are, it's still a fun game to play it's just more casual. Sometimes we don't want to play a super complex game and this works perfectly for those nights. With that said, there is still strategy that goes into playing the game itself and people newer to these sort of games might even find it a bit complex at first until they get the feel for these sort of games. Component wise, it's CMON. Everything is on point and the miniatures are awesome which is a bonsu for anyone who enjoys painting (which I love). Keep up the good reviews dude! I'm subscribed. Looking forward to more.
I totally agree and my kids love it! I'm actually quite happy this and Descent 2.0 are their introductions to dungeon crawlers - they have it so great! For me, MD is just FUN and that's something I don't get (or want) from all of my board games. Sometimes I like the strategic puzzle and sometimes I want to headbutt a giant spider to death :) I am very glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for subscribing! I have several more reviews already scheduled out that I hope you will enjoy as well.
Man thanks so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Reviews will continue to be a regular video on the channel that I actually hope to grow larger as the channel does.
OK I must agree most of your review and a loooooooooot of people does too. You have to go to the BGG forum you'll find tons of new quests and house rules to enhance the game. And perhaps make à video on some of them you could like 😉
Thanks for watching and that's good to know! I remember arguing some of the game's merits when it first came out on BGG because many people claimed it wasn't a good game at all. I believe the top review of it held only 2 pros and a ton of cons and I just don't see that when I play the game and the whole family enjoys it. I might be interested around a disengage mechanic for roaming monsters though I'm unsure if anything could be done around the combat system or really if I'd even want that. I'll be sure to check it out though!
The King of Average I'm not 100% sure but I remember some rules regarding the campaign mode, most players also think it's a great idea but there is a lack of work on it. Waiting for your next videos ☺
+Akuu76 ah see I completely forgot about campaign mode, yes that'd be great to have really working! The story is still lacking, though I have not checked out the lava and Crystal expansion story. I'm still doubtful it'll live up to Descent, however I also don't believe it's trying to either. There will be a new video tomorrow! It's my largest paint job yet, hope to see you there!
ok, I just checked this video, to see if your Reviews feed my tast. But since it was your first, I would like to know if you feel still the same about this game. Cause this game is really bad in my point of view, cause after you reached lvl 2, even the roaming Monsters are no threat at all any more. It is just so easy that I nearly soled it after only 10 games. Good for the game are the simple rules and easy way to write hoase rules :-) the good part about the game you all pointed out. Hope you will still read this ;-)
Wow this is a blast from the past. My goodness have I gotten better at reviews lol - my apologies for the roughness of this one! :D To be honest, I've not played Massive Darkness in quite some time. I always call it a dungeon romp instead of a dungeon crawl because as you said, you're just tearing through enemies and gaining loot much like a game of Diablo. It's great fun if you're all in the mood for a fairly simple game with only mild strategy but lots of killing. Regardless, my largest gripe is still the combat. Boy to I hate having to check 13 places after rolling die to see what happened. By the time I note what the enemy has equipped, what their abilities are, what my abilities are, where we are on the board and what my equipment is and then modify what I rolled based on all of that I tend to just want to move on. My preference is fun and rapid combat mechanics where the work of figuring stuff out happens before the die roll, not after.
Cool to hear from you. The tones of rules on Items and Chars are also a argument to point out. I reather like it, because it gives the game a complexitiy, but am willing to admit that it will annoy me a lot when the chars reach lvl 5 (campain mode) Well, good to know this now, just wish you would have pushed more on the important argument "mass of rules checks" and "easy fights". After I play the Great Wall we will know for sure how we both fitt ;-) Cause of your Preview Review I checked the game up ;-)
Complexity without the depth doesn't seem to warrant a 7 on a scale from 1-10. When you rate, think of a game that is a 5 or a 6. Don't be hesitant giving a game a 4 if it deserves that, games cannot be offended :)
Heh yeah it's an odd thing. Board games take up an entire evening for several people and so only the best options are picked. In a sense, if you have three "10s" and a 7, the 7 will rarely be picked to play, so what does it matter? I've thought about this much and in the end removed the rather arbitrary number from my reviews. Ideally, my examples and comments painted a better picture than the number :)
Awesome first review! You've come a very long way in 5 years!
With MD2 on the way, my excitement is extreme. I'm currently 3D printing all of the minis from MD1, so that I can use the crossover pack enemies
Hah! Thanks man, I agree! :D It's a lot of content!
This is my favorite Dungeon Crawl. One of the things I love about it is that it gives me a Decentish Crawl in an afternoon. Another thing I love is how the game doesn't beat you over the head with Encounters/Perils.
Those are very good points! For me, I always call it a "dungeon romp" versus a crawl. It always reminded me of the Diablo games or other ARPGs which I enjoy. The fact that I can cleave through 8 goblins and then headbutt a boss to death is pretty great :D
The King of Average That's the best part ;D My last playthrough was Quest 8 and I needed to kill 1 more Roamer which had 7 health left. Drew an Event that let a Hero take an action. I chose Lil'Ned (Bone Crusher) He charged in and inflicted around 25 damage! Lol
Hahah love it! That sort of stuff is just good Amerithrash fun :D Definintely a "romp" :D
The King of Average :D
Revisiting this video in honor of the current MD2 KS campaign.
This is a fantastic review - the best I've seen in fact! After playing D&D and other pen & paper rpgs for decades, I find the story mode super light as well. It's a good game to have friends over for drinks and a mindless dungeon crawl though. Like you though, I bought it for the miniatures :) Maybe i'll end up using them in a future D&D campaign!
Wow thank you so much! I have a friend that bought the game precisely for D&D use. It's a great purchase for that alone. The fact that you get a fun, lighthearted dungeon crawler is a bonus in that regard :)
I'm not one to put style of substance though, and the game holds up incredibly well for my gaming nights. Set up is long but I ALWAYS walk away a couple hours later very happy we played.
I want to see the miniatures up close I wanted to know if they are compatible with reaper bones or whiz kids miniatures wanted to find out which sets you had to get to get which figures and yes I'm looking for the corn and looking one. Any help would be appreciated
Finally a somewhat honest review without the overhyped nonsense. Well expressed opinion, instant subscribe.
Nice review! I agree on the story mode, it was added on the later stages of the KS campaign, that's why it has some flaws, but hey, it was originally planned for single questing only. Usually we pick 3-4 quest and call it story mode because you are still leveling fast with micro XP and better equipment means a lot (which you can carry over) and after 2-3 quest you feel sometimes overpowered.
The light tone of combat (still, that max 3 dice/colour makes counting a lot easier), the wide variety of minis (true, the base game content feels not enough) and the loot system makes this overall a well balanced, almost fast-paced dungeon crawling game with a not complex decision making system and a ton of replayability. Overall within our party the game shines especially for the newcomers who are not so much in deep with board gaming (they enjoyed it a lot) and a refreshing experience for the more experienced players as well.
Thank you and completely agree on all accounts. You bring up a good point as well with the complexity vs. audience. While I wouldn't put this as a gateway game, I think it'd make a fantastic 2nd game for someone being introduced to board games such as this and even a first step for those with the right inclination.
Glad you enjoyed the video and are enjoying the game! I still need to get a few more add-ons to make an already good game even greater with more variety.
Which other rpg boardgames are more strategic and in depth?
Been watching a lot of your videos of late--this is one of my favorites. I appreciate the pros/cons, detailed descriptions. Thanks.
Thanks Desmond! What do you think of the two different review styles?
Hard to say really. I like the video editing and pure shots of the game/items as you talk about them--as used in your more recent videos. But what I really like about this one is the positive/negative 'sandwiching' you do. In that you spend a lot of time talking about what wasn't great about the game, but then point out that you still love it. I find this to be the most helpful if estimating what my own opinion might be. As you say for example you don't like 'this or that' I can immediately think 'oh yea, I hate when games do that,' or 'actually I like that, or those thing don't bother me.' The best example of this in any of your video I've seen thus far (IMHO) would be in this video when you mention the combat system. I thought it was very insightful how you mentioned that a game's system can be complicated or simple--usually based on the overall depth of the play. However you found this game's system to be overly complicated in comparison to its dept. Obviously, this is what I (1 person) gleaned from that particular statement, and not your exact words. Hope this feedback helps.
Thank you for the wonderful feedback! I'll continue to try and fine tune the review format to something I'm happy with that I think others will appreciate. Perhaps a bit more detail vs the summary statements without example of the first video, but still more brief (under 10 minutes ideally) with the raw gameplay shown. I really like showing the gameplay in the back as I talk so that you can see typical (real) game flow.
You gleamed my biggest point for MD btw! I talked about it in my GH review a bit but every game has a purpose and with the shallow depth MD is almost a filler game, yet it takes several hours to complete. If it wasn't as fun as it is it'd overstep it's welcome and even then it's close when you take into account setup and tear down time.
I've been watching quite a lot of reviews of this game and have played Zombicide Black Plague (which was an absolute blast!). I've decided to buy this one because I feel that what most people can't wrap thier head around is that this game seems to be begging to be HOUSE RULED. Which for me is awesome because then we get to make the game our own. Our adventures! Our campaigns! This seems like a great game to get short of playing actual D&D. Our group has even made a personal campaign for Black Plague and it was GREAT! I think if people just add a little creativity of their own and bend or break some rules they might just find that this game can be truly amazing!
In that case this is almost the ultimate game for you! I know several people that bought this just for D&D material because it works so well with that.
Hi. Dou you think I can use MD's rules to play with the D&D Adventure Games? Because it sounds to me like they tried to fix what did not work with that system.
I wouldn't see why not! I have friends that bought the game for straight up D&D even.
THanks for the quick reply. They bought it for the RPG of the Board Games? I was asking about the latter.
They bought it specifically for the pen and paper version but since then have actually written a whole campaign with the pieces as if they were playing the game. As for moving the game mechanics, they really just drive a light dungeon crawler, so I imagine you could sub it in for most any other dungeon crawler fairly well. I have not played the D&D Adventure Games but I have played others like Descent.
Thanks! I will give it a try.
Best of luck - let me know how it works out!
Another great review man. I agree, it is a fun game but it is relatively light which isn't necessarily a bad thing. My kids enjoy it. It's a good introduction to people who aren't familiar with dungeons crawls but even if they are, it's still a fun game to play it's just more casual. Sometimes we don't want to play a super complex game and this works perfectly for those nights. With that said, there is still strategy that goes into playing the game itself and people newer to these sort of games might even find it a bit complex at first until they get the feel for these sort of games.
Component wise, it's CMON. Everything is on point and the miniatures are awesome which is a bonsu for anyone who enjoys painting (which I love).
Keep up the good reviews dude! I'm subscribed. Looking forward to more.
I totally agree and my kids love it! I'm actually quite happy this and Descent 2.0 are their introductions to dungeon crawlers - they have it so great! For me, MD is just FUN and that's something I don't get (or want) from all of my board games. Sometimes I like the strategic puzzle and sometimes I want to headbutt a giant spider to death :)
I am very glad you enjoyed the video and thank you for subscribing! I have several more reviews already scheduled out that I hope you will enjoy as well.
I put some work in pnp for MD, and actually MD is not only a game, but also a system. It entices people to imagine RPG campaign and world building ;-)
I've seen some crazy cool complete revamps for MD and it's amazing what people have done with it over the years :)
Great review! Ty! Not getting this tho!
Great review! Instant subscribe :)
Looking forward seeing more reviews
Man thanks so much! I'm really glad you enjoyed it! Reviews will continue to be a regular video on the channel that I actually hope to grow larger as the channel does.
OK I must agree most of your review and a loooooooooot of people does too. You have to go to the BGG forum you'll find tons of new quests and house rules to enhance the game. And perhaps make à video on some of them you could like 😉
Thanks for watching and that's good to know! I remember arguing some of the game's merits when it first came out on BGG because many people claimed it wasn't a good game at all. I believe the top review of it held only 2 pros and a ton of cons and I just don't see that when I play the game and the whole family enjoys it.
I might be interested around a disengage mechanic for roaming monsters though I'm unsure if anything could be done around the combat system or really if I'd even want that. I'll be sure to check it out though!
The King of Average I'm not 100% sure but I remember some rules regarding the campaign mode, most players also think it's a great idea but there is a lack of work on it. Waiting for your next videos ☺
+Akuu76 ah see I completely forgot about campaign mode, yes that'd be great to have really working! The story is still lacking, though I have not checked out the lava and Crystal expansion story. I'm still doubtful it'll live up to Descent, however I also don't believe it's trying to either.
There will be a new video tomorrow! It's my largest paint job yet, hope to see you there!
The King of Average count on me
ok, I just checked this video, to see if your Reviews feed my tast. But since it was your first, I would like to know if you feel still the same about this game.
Cause this game is really bad in my point of view, cause after you reached lvl 2, even the roaming Monsters are no threat at all any more. It is just so easy that I nearly soled it after only 10 games. Good for the game are the simple rules and easy way to write hoase rules :-)
the good part about the game you all pointed out.
Hope you will still read this ;-)
Wow this is a blast from the past. My goodness have I gotten better at reviews lol - my apologies for the roughness of this one! :D
To be honest, I've not played Massive Darkness in quite some time. I always call it a dungeon romp instead of a dungeon crawl because as you said, you're just tearing through enemies and gaining loot much like a game of Diablo. It's great fun if you're all in the mood for a fairly simple game with only mild strategy but lots of killing.
Regardless, my largest gripe is still the combat. Boy to I hate having to check 13 places after rolling die to see what happened. By the time I note what the enemy has equipped, what their abilities are, what my abilities are, where we are on the board and what my equipment is and then modify what I rolled based on all of that I tend to just want to move on. My preference is fun and rapid combat mechanics where the work of figuring stuff out happens before the die roll, not after.
Cool to hear from you. The tones of rules on Items and Chars are also a argument to point out. I reather like it, because it gives the game a complexitiy, but am willing to admit that it will annoy me a lot when the chars reach lvl 5 (campain mode)
Well, good to know this now, just wish you would have pushed more on the important argument "mass of rules checks" and "easy fights".
After I play the Great Wall we will know for sure how we both fitt ;-) Cause of your Preview Review I checked the game up ;-)
Your old camera was better, the new one shows all the wrinkles you earned through the years.
My face was never built for 4k :D
@@TheKingofAverage time for makeup? 🙂
Complexity without the depth doesn't seem to warrant a 7 on a scale from 1-10. When you rate, think of a game that is a 5 or a 6. Don't be hesitant giving a game a 4 if it deserves that, games cannot be offended :)
Heh yeah it's an odd thing. Board games take up an entire evening for several people and so only the best options are picked. In a sense, if you have three "10s" and a 7, the 7 will rarely be picked to play, so what does it matter? I've thought about this much and in the end removed the rather arbitrary number from my reviews.
Ideally, my examples and comments painted a better picture than the number :)
Ok so you don't play MD?
We used too a lot because the "fun factor" is really high for us. Nothing like headbutting a goblin boss to death :D